NOVA Online | Everest | Introduction to the Stroop Test

The Stroop Test

This is a modified/interactive version of one of the neuro-behavioral tests that the climbers will be taking en route to the summit to measure their mental abilities. To find out about this and other tests, check out Test Your Brain.

Here's an experiment for you. Look at this word on the screen: dog. Is it possible for you not to read the word "dog?" Probably not. Most of us are so well trained to read printed words that we simply cannot ignore them, even if we try.

It turns out that we can read words faster, and more automatically, than we can name colors. If a word is written in a color different from the color it actually names; for example, if the word "red" is written in green we will say the word "red" more readily than we can name the color in which it is written, which in this case is "green."

With the help of Rick Mahurin of the Battelle Seattle Research Center, NOVA has made available a Shockwave demonstration of the Stroop Test. In the demonstration you will be presented with three levels of the test.

Quickly choose the word that matches the color within the rectangle on top.
Quickly choose the word that matches the word on top.
Quickly choose the color in which the word on top is written, rather than the color that the word names. Most people find the last level the hardest. You probably will take more time for each word, and may frequently make the mistake of saying the word itself, rather than naming the color in which the word appears.